Person:Caroline Webber (3)

Caroline Jane Webber, known as “Carrie” to her family and friends, was born on 19 December 1843 in Hinckley, Medina, Ohio, the only one of the Webber children to be born in that locality. She was the last of ten children to be born to Richard Webber and Lavina (also spelled Lovina) Bradway. She was ten years old when her father, Richard, and her brother, John Barton, both died in 1854.

She married Newell Elijah Gile on 19 November 1864 in Hinckley, Medina, Ohio. Newell was the son of Elijah Henry Gile and Hannah Lathrop Keith, and was born on 9 October 1841 in Hinckley, Medina, Ohio. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, enlisting in Company G, 4th US Artillery on 1 February 1861. He participated in 37 battles, including Gettysburg and Antietam, and was wounded in three of them, once severely wounded in Ringgold, Georgia. He was honorably discharged on 1 February 1864, and then joined the Secret Service until he was honorably discharged on 11 September 1865. Caroline and Newell lived in Medina County for almost ten years, and it was there that Caroline gave birth to their first three children. Caroline was to experience the death of family members a lot in her lifetime. Two of their first three children died before having lived a year. This must have been heartbreaking for both Newell and Caroline. In 1874, they took their seven-year-old daughter, Nettie, out to Norway Township, Republic County, Kansas. Newell was awarded a land patent by the United States Government for his service in the Civil War, and his brother, Ransom Gile, had come to Norway Township the year before. Newell and Caroline traveled to Kansas by wagon and lived with the Tate family until they officially owned their property and built a dugout. They later built a proper stone house, about a year after arriving in Norway. One wall of the house is still standing, and the cellar is still existent. It is located on the west side of 110 Road in Norway Township. Republic County was founded in 1860, named after the Republican River, which runs through it. Norway township had first been settled in 1868. In 1874, when the Giles first settled there, Republic County had a population of 8,020.

The Giles had a hard time their first few years in Kansas with drought and grasshoppers killing their crops. Caroline wrote home about it and received a reply from her brother George. At the time she received the letter, she was five months pregnant and caring for a nine-year-old daughter. It must have been difficult to carve out a homestead and feed and take care of the children at the same time. During this period, John Lathrop Gile, or “Johnny Lathrop,” was born. He lived two and a half years, but sadly, in 1878, Johnny was Caroline’s third son in a row to die a premature death. Caroline was to see three more of her children pass away during her lifetime. Only three out of her nine children survived her.

On the 29th and 30th of May 1879, a series of extremely powerful tornadoes hit many places in Kansas, including Republic County. The tornadoes killed 42 people, according to an official government report, although many more were estimated by newspapers. It was through the newspapers that Caroline’s family in Ohio heard about the tornadoes and were understandably very concerned. After receiving news that Caroline and her family were still fine and had not been “blown away,” the Webbers took turns writing notes to the Giles on two pages of foolscap, or 8 1/2 by 13 1/2 inch paper, expressing their concern for the family and their relief when they had received word that they were safe.The letter, dated June 16, 1879, is completely covered with writing, on the front, back, and margins. The Webbers filled every inch of it. The letter still exists and is a fascinating piece of history.

Newell died on 20 December 1911 at the age of 70 in Norway, Republic, Kansas. He was buried in Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, Norway, Republic, Kansas. Caroline lived on the old homestead with her son Jack until she died on 23 December 1928 at the age of 85. She was also buried in Pleasant Ridge Cemetery.

1. ↑ .

   Lucy Adelia Washburn, The Richard Webber Family: a genealogy from the first settlement in America (Medina, Ohio:
   The A. I. Root Co., 1909), 12; pdf, The Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/details/richardwebberfam00wash :
   accessed 4 February 2011.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Caroline 'Carrie' Jane Webber Gile memorial page, in Find A Grave.

   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=95924&GRid=40230082& accessed: 9 April 2011.

3.   1900 U.S. Census.

   1900 U S Census, Republic County, Kansas, population schedule, Norway township, enumeration district (ED) 86, 1A, dwelling 1, Caroline J Gile; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing NARA microfilm T623_ 497.

4.   1910 U.S. Census.

   1910 U S Census, Republic County, Kansas, population schedule, Norway, enumeration district (ED) 0094, 11B, dwelling 172, Caroline J Gile; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing NARA microfilm T624_454.

5.   1850 U.S. Census.

   1850 U S Census, Medina County, Ohio, population schedule, Hinckley, p. 347A, family 509, Caroline J Webber; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing NARA microfilm M432_709.

6.   1860 U.S. Census.

   1860 U S Census, Medina County, Ohio, population schedule, Hinckley, p. 261 (stamped), dwelling 482, Caroline Webber; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing NARA microfilm M653_1007.

7.   1870 U.S. Census.

   1870 U S Census, Medina County, Ohio, population schedule, Medina, p. 12 (penned), dwelling 99, Caroline Gile; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing NARA microfilm M593_1241.

8.   1880 U.S. Census.

   1880 U S Census, Republic County, Kansas, Norway, enumeration district (ED) 281, p. 124C (stamped), dwelling 76, Caroline Gile; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing FHL microfilm 1254394.

9.   1920 U.S. Census.

   1920 U S Census, Republic County, Kansas, population schedule, Norway Township, enumeration district (ED) 113, p. 5B, dwelling 102, Caroline Gile; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 February 2011); citing NARA microfilm T625_547.